Supply Explorer
Fuels refinery

Valero Port Arthur Refinery

Premcor Refining Group Inc. (operating subsidiary of Valero Refining Company / Valero Energy) · Valero Energy Corporation · Port Arthur, TX

Operating PADD3 IRS refinery no. R-74-TX-0128 distillate petroleum coke sulfur heavy sour upgrading
Aerial view of the site Imagery: USDA, USGS The National Map (public domain)
bpd crude capacity · EIA 2026
385,000
pipelines it injects into · +3 same-city tariff origins
2
delivery points reachable
63
terminals on those points
77
events on record
4

Capability

Crude distillation 385,000 bpd operable, 385,000 operating (EIA-820, as of 2026-01-01). Downstream units below, barrels per calendar day.

Conversion — makes gasoline and diesel from heavier oil

Catalytic cracking (FCC) 73,050
Hydrocracking — gas oil 124,350
Delayed coking 142,440

Upgrading

Catalytic reforming — low pressure 50,870
Vacuum distillation 220,000 sd

Treating — meets sulfur specs

Hydrotreating — diesel 104,600 sd
Hydrotreating — kerosene & jet 33,000 sd
Hydrotreating — gasoline 90,000 sd
Hydrotreating — naphtha / reformer feed 58,000 sd
Hydrotreating — heavy gas oil 60,000 sd

Production capacity

Alkylates · 20,000 Petcoke market · 52,325 Sulfur short tons day · 2,178

Crude slate

Heavy sour crude: Canadian oil sands (WCS), Mexican Maya, and increasingly Venezuelan heavy crude as sanctions have eased, per East Daley Analytics; the 2023 coker project specifically increased Valero's ability to upgrade heavy, high-resid slates.

Crude in & products out

From refinery research; each row links its source.
Sign in to download connections
DirectionModeRoutePoint / originProductsSource
crude in marine Sabine-Neches Waterway
NOAA Coast Pilot 5 (October 2026 edition) lists the refinery's Berths Nos. 0 to 6 for receipt and shipment of crude oil. The refinery's Railroad Commission of Texas Form R-1 for May 2024 reports 3,338,590 barrels of crude imported from Mexico that month.		 Waterborne crude, including imports from Mexico crude source
crude in pipeline Nederland to Port Arthur crude pipeline
RBN Energy states Nederland terminal has direct pipeline connections to the Valero and Total Port Arthur refineries in addition to Motiva and ExxonMobil Beaumont.		 Nederland Terminal (Sunoco/Energy Transfer) crude source
crude in pipeline Keystone Pipeline
Keystone/Marketlink barrels reach the Nederland hub; the Port Neches Link spur was purpose-built for Motiva specifically, so a direct Keystone-to-Valero-PA connection is plausible via Nederland terminal blending/redelivery but not separately confirmed by a Valero-specific source.		 South Bow Keystone Nederland Delivery Station crude source
crude in pipeline The Premcor Pipeline Co. crude line
The refinery's Railroad Commission of Texas Form R-1 for May 2024 reports 7,375,100 barrels of crude received from The Premcor Pipeline Co. (pipeline registration T-1 03-1065). That was about 7.4 of the 10.7 million barrels of crude received that month. The report does not name the line or where it starts.		 crude source
products out truck rack Premcor Refining Group Inc. (Valero) refinery rack, IRS terminal T-76-TX-2854
The IRS terminal list carries T-76-TX-2854 under Premcor Refining Group Inc. at 1801 Gulfway Dr, Port Arthur. The list has no Valero LP record in Port Arthur. The products loaded at the rack are not stated.		 Refinery site, 1801 Gulfway Dr, Port Arthur source
products out pipeline Explorer Pipeline
Explorer sketch 000-SK-1079 (revised April 2022) shows the 30-inch Valero gasoline and oil meters A03 and A04 and El Vista feeding Port Arthur Station. Colonial FERC 3.33.0 (effective July 1, 2026) Route 03 prices the movement from the Port Arthur Products Station to Explorer Pipeline. The refinery's Railroad Commission report for May 2024 shows 5.5 million barrels of gasoline and diesel delivered to the Port Arthur Products Station.		 Explorer Port Arthur Station, origin meters A03 (Valero, gasoline) and A04 (Valero, oil) via 30-inch lines from the El Vista tankage; also from the Port Arthur Products Station gasoline distillate source
products out pipeline Colonial Pipeline
Colonial FERC 3.33.0 (effective July 1, 2026) Route 01 is a pump over charge for movements from the Port Arthur Products Station into Colonial Pipeline. The refinery's Railroad Commission of Texas Form R-1 for May 2024 reports 2,849,632 barrels of gasoline and 2,643,640 barrels of diesel delivered to the Port Arthur Products Station.		 Port Arthur Products Station, Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas gasoline distillate source
products out pipeline Sunoco Pipeline (Energy Transfer)
Sunoco Pipeline L.P. tariff TX No. 80.12 lists the origin Hebert, Jefferson County, Texas (Valero Pipeline), with rates to the Hebert Tank Farm and Center Terminal. The refinery's Railroad Commission of Texas Form R-1 for May 2024 reports 339,150 barrels of gasoline and 382,685 barrels of diesel delivered to Sunoco Pipeline.		 Hebert, Jefferson County, Texas (Valero Pipeline) gasoline distillate source
products out marine Premcor Refining Group Port Arthur Refinery Berths Nos. 0 to 6
NOAA Coast Pilot 5 (October 2026 edition) lists Berths Nos. 0 to 6 for receipt and shipment of crude oil, petroleum products, petrochemicals and liquid caustic soda, owned by Premcor Refining Group, Inc. It does not break the products down by grade. A separate refinery wharf is listed for shipment of liquid sulphur.		 Refinery wharves, Port Arthur, Sabine-Neches Waterway source

Docks

The docks at this facility and, where a ship agent or port publishes it, the largest vessel each berth takes. Channel conditions change; these figures are a guide, not clearance to sail.

Valero Port Arthur refinery docks

Berth Max draft Max length Max beam Air draft
Dock 1, 3, 5 40 ft 750 ft 106 ft –

Source: Moran Shipping Agencies port directory, read 2026-10-10.

Premcor Refining Group Port Arthur Refinery Tug Mooring Wharf · products out

  • Shipment of liquid sulphur and occasional mooring of tugboats.
  • Owned by Premcor Refining Group, Inc.
  • 300 ft of berthing space, 17 ft depth alongside, deck height 7 ft.
  • Listed in the Coast Pilot table of facilities at Port Arthur, Texas.

Source: NOAA Coast Pilot 5, read 2026-10-11.

Pipeline reach

Where this refinery’s product can go by published tariff route from the points it injects at — what an outage here would touch.
Sign in to download reach
PipelineInjects atDelivery pointsTerminalsLowest ¢/bblMedian ¢/bbl
Explorer Pipeline
Port Arthur (Jefferson County, TX) per research
33 41 96.30 310.00
Enterprise / TEPPCO
North Port Arthur (Jefferson Co., TX) - interconnect with Enterprise Refined Products storage same city
15 22 204.70 351.08
Magellan Midstream
Port Arthur / Port Neches, TX (via Explorer) same city
9 8 603.88 686.75
Colonial Pipeline
Port Arthur Products Station per research
3 3 20.13 26.39
Sunoco / Energy Transfer
Port Arthur (Motiva Refinery or Enterprise Products Terminal) per research
3 3 28.53 192.25

Substitutes

Other refineries injecting into the same pipelines — the supply that could backfill an outage here.

Colonial Pipeline

Magellan Midstream

Events

Outages, fires, turnarounds, sales and closures — newest first.
Sign in to download events
  1. 2026-09 outage

    Power outage following storm Edouard hit the Port Arthur refinery; smaller AVU-147 crude unit was shut and the larger AVU-146 CDU ran at minimum rates. source

  2. 2026-03-23 outage

    Explosion and ~5-hour fire at the diesel hydrotreater (unforeseen process-fluid release) forced a full shutdown of the 380,000-435,000 bpd refinery; no injuries reported. Partial restart underway through April 2026; diesel hydrotreater rebuild timeline unknown as of late April 2026, kerosene hydrotreater targeted for Q3 2026. source

  3. 2024-12 fire

    A fire was reported at Valero's Port Arthur plant, referenced later by trade press covering the 2026 explosion. Its scope and duration are not stated. source

  4. 2023 expansion

    Valero completed a coker project at Port Arthur, raising crude throughput capacity to ~435,000 bpd and improving heavy/high-resid crude upgrading capability. source

Rates are pipeline line-haul transcribed from published FERC tariffs; every figure cites its tariff and item. Cost to serve (netback) adds origin spot price and destination fees. "Confirmed" links match a tariff delivery point to the facility; "same city" means the point is in the facility's city — plausible, not proof; "per research" means the facility's research profile names the pipeline as an outlet.